Ken Heebner's Highest-Yielding Stock Picks

Updated from 7:01 a.m. EDT

If you're looking for good stock ideas, one technique is to follow in the footsteps of top investors. And if you are looking to reduce volatility, you can choose stocks that pay dividends.

Ken Heebner is one of the top money managers in the country and a favorite of Jim Cramer. He's the general partner and portfolio manager of Capital Growth Management and portfolio manager of the CGM Focus Fund. The fund was ranked No. 3 for the year and had a return of 79.9% for 2007.

Stockpickr has put together a list of the highest-yielding stocks that Heebner owns.

One of his highest-yielding stocks is Bank of America(BAC), with a 6.9% yield. BofA just announced that it will stop making private student loans so it can concentrate on federal student loans. The stock has a price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 11 and a P/E-to-growth ratio (PEG) of 1.27.

Bank of America is also owned by the LSV Value Equity Fund, a Morningstar-rated 5-star fund managed by Josef Lakonishok. The fund has had an average annual return of 13.7% over the past five years. LSV also owns Exxon Mobil(XOM), which yields 1.5%, ConocoPhillips(COP), with a 2.3% yield, and Parker Hannifin(PH), yielding 1.1%.

Another high-yielding Heebner stock is Citigroup(C), with a payout of 5.5%. The CEO, Vikram Pandit, just announced that he would cut the bank's costs by as much as 20%, which could result in job reductions to the tune of tens of thousands. The stock has a P/E of 34 and a PEG of 2.07.

Citigroup is also owned by the Fairholme Fund, managed by Bruce Berkowitz, which invests in stocks that sell at a significant discount to their perceived value. The fund has had an average annual return of 20.2% over the past five years. The fund also owns The St. Joe Company(JOE), which yields 1.6%, Progressive(PGR), with a 0.8% yield, and Canadian Natural Resources(CNQ), with a 0.5% yield.

Merrill Lynch(MER) is another high-yielding Heebner stock, with a yield of 3.1%. On Thursday, the company said that it had negative earnings for the third consecutive quarter, wrote down assets by an additional $6.6 billion and will continue to have job layoffs. The stock has a forward P/E of 9 and a PEG of 1.72.

Merrill shows up in the portfolio of the Janus Adviser Forty Fund, managed by Scott Schoelzel. Janus also owns shares of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT), with a 0.2% yield, Goldman Sachs (GS), with a 0.8% yield, and Procter & Gamble (PG), with a 2.4% yield.

To see the entire list of the highest-yielding Heebner stocks, go to Stockpickr.com.

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